Gold separator



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 W. L. CARD.

GOLD SBPARATOR.

Patented Aug. 24, 1886-.-

(No Mode1.) W L CARD 4Sheets-S11eet2.

' GOLi) sfiPAnAToie. I No. 347,867. Patented Aug. 24,- 1886. i v (WI MuH W, III) 1 F' W L (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet :3.

' W. L. CARD.

GOLD SEPARATOR. No. 347,867. Patented Aug. 24, 1886.

- .fjz' gd,

4 Sheets Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

W. L. CARD.

GOLD SEPARATOR.

N0. 347,867. Patented Aug. 24, 1886.

WILLIAM L. CARD, OF LA CROSSE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO THE TIERR-A SEGAMINING COMPANY.

GOLD-SEPA RATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters'Patent No. 347,867, dated August24, 1886. v Application filed March 26, 1886. Serial No. 196,732. Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. CARD, a citizen of the United States,residing at La Orosse, in the county of La Crosse and State ofWisconsin, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements inGold-Separators; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, where- IO in Figure 1 is a longitudinal verticalsectionof a machine embodying myinvention on the line 1 1, Fig. 2. Fig.2 is a top view of the same, the dust slide or cover being removed i -toshow the-interior. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 33, Fig.2. Fig. 4 isa vertical section on the line 4 4, Fig. 3, giving anenlarged transverse view' of the pocketsof the separator. Fig. 5 is aperspective view of a portion of one of the perforated steel plates forforming the pockets. Fig.6 is a side ele-. vation of the same. Fig. 7isa detail showing the means for imparting a lateral vibratory movementto the separator or pocket-cham- 'ber.

chine, the hopper. which is shown in Fig. 6, being omitted. Fig. 9 is alongitudinal section of a modification, adapting the separator to usewater instead of air. Fig. 10 is a transverse section of the same ontheline 1010, Fig.

9. Figs. 11 and 13 show previous constructions of perforated pocketswhich have proved defective. Figs. 12 and 14 show steps of theconstruction devised by me to overcome the 5 deficiencies of the pocketsshown in Figs. 11

and 13. Figs. 15, 16, and 17 show the perfected and preferred forms ofpockets. Like letters refer to like parts wherever they occur. I

My present invention relates to the construction and operation ofgravity-separators forrecovering or obtaining the precious metals fromtheir earthy matrices.

In'order that the objects and operation of 5 my invention may be morefully comprehended and appreciated, it will be desirable to brieflyreview the prior state of the art and consider in a general way theexisting difiiculties and disadvantages, as well as their causes Themost common processes are the amal- Fig. 8 is a top or plan view of thema -by gravity,: or is taken up by the quicksilver while the gangue isfloated off. No process has, so far as I am aware, ever been devised'for the successful employment of a dry amalgamation process, first,because when the mer 6o cury is exposed to the air its surface at oncebecomes coated with a thin gray film of oxide, which preventsamalgamation, and, secondly, because of the loss of large'quantities offloured mercury. This process also demands the use of large quantitiesof quicksilver not readily obtained and the subsequent treatment of theamalgam to separate the metal and recover the mercury. In the second orwet process, of which the pan and cradle are'types, what are termedjiggersl are most commonly employed to economize water, which is scarceand difiic'ult to procure in many localities. The jigger operates bycausing the pulsationof water througha perforated trough or screen, 5 soas'to permit the heavier precious metal to be concentrated or sinkthrough the screen into the trough or water-box, while the matrix passesoff the screen out of the machine. In the third or dry process anairblast is substituted for water to produce the pulsations which shallcause the separation of the metal and matrix and permit the heavierprecious metal to fall through the screen or separator into the air-box,while the earthy matter or gangue passes off of the screen, as in thewet process. The change from water-to air as a medium for causing thepulsatipnsnecessitates other changes well known and not necessary tomention here. forated table alone being inetficient, as early as 1860 astratum of fine gravel or like material, the gravity of which should beless than the heaviest material which was to pass through sieve andgreater. than the matrix or gangue, 5 was placed on the sieve to act asvalves, retard the downfiow of the water, and allow of time for theseparation of the metal and matrix by the action of gravity.

The varied character of the matrix and conrec dition of the preciousmetal are well understood. -For instance, the precious metal may Thesieve or perbe present in the condition of flour, scale, flake, shot,nugget, or common gold-dust in matrices of clay, sand. adobe clay,gravel, decomposed rock, and earthy matter, hard-pan, black sand, ironpyrites, slate, &c., or in any conceivable mixture of any or all ofthese. It is also well understood that the force of the downwardmovement of the particles under treatment will under these circumstancesvary according to their volumes or according to the cubes of theirrelative dimensions, while the resistance will vary as their exposedsurfaces or the squares of their dimensions. It will therefore beapparent that the only manner by which the present separators orconcentrators can bemade to operate is by using such an impulse orupward blast as will permit the very finest gold to fall, and byallowing allthe precious metal to pass through the sieve or perforatedbed into the air or water box, and if this is done then much ofthematrix will also follow. Besides, the machine is necessarily so exposedthat it can be readily robbed by the workmen. Again, if the materialoperated on becomes packed or unevenly distributed. over resistance tothe upward flow of the air or water is irregular in its force, so that,the separation must necessarily be irregular and imperfect, and at timesthe fine gold may be floated off with the gangue or earthy matter.

From the above and other causes well understood by the skilled operatorthe larger part of the present known separators have proved failures,while none yet devised meet the requirements of the art or can beeconomically employed.

The object of the present invention is to overcome the severaldisadvantages hereinbefore specified, and provide means adapted toseparate and retain all or substantially all the precious metal withoutregard to its character or condition or the nature of the matrix.

As a result of long and careful experiments and observation, I havediscovered that in order to make a separator thorough and effective, andaccomplish the objects set forth above, the following conditions must becreated and maintained:

First. There must beinterposed between the medium which gives theimpulse(whetherthe same be air or water) and the material to be separated (orprecious metal and its matrix) a mobile permeable mass or strata, whichwill not only permit the passage of the air or fluid, but will receiveand retain the precious metal. For this purpose any loose materialsuchas fine, heavy, sifted, and sized gravel or shot, or any like materialwhich is substantially lighter than gold and heavier than the matrix orearthy matter-may be used, and for this purpose I have found that coppershot is the best, first, because of its relative specific gravity; and,secondly, because it is lessliable to deface the gold and is moredurable than lead shot, which is my second choice.

Second. The interposed mobile permeable mass must be maintained ofuniform depth or thickness throughout, in order to maintain uniformityof operation and effectiveness.

Third. The size of its individual particles must be'regulated accordingto the resistance to passage of blast or water required, the coarser thematerial the less the resistance, and vice versa.

Fourth. The resistance to the upward passage of the air (or water) mustbe greater in the interstices of the interposed permeable mass (ore-bed)than in its passage through the stratum'of earth under treatment.

' I will now proceed to describe more specifically the best means knownto me for earrying out my invention in order that others skilled in theart to which it appertains may apply the same.

In the drawings, A indicates a frame-work adapted to support the hopperB, the separator G, and suitable mechanism for vibrating the separator0.

The hopper B, in the present instance, is provided with a gate or slide,6, and the mechanism shown for vibrating or rocking the separatorconsists of the shaft D, with crank-pin D and link-rod D pivoted to theseparator C, so as to vibrate the separator laterally instead oflongitudinally, as usual. The special construction of the aforesaiddevices is, however, immaterial, as they form no part of the presentinvention, and may be of any desired character.

The gist of the present invention lies in the construction and operationof the separatorO.

0 indicates the side walls of the separator; E, the ore-bed, and c' the(air or water) chamber below the ore-bed.

The ore-bed E is preferably formed of a series of pockets, 0, arrangedclose together in step form, or one slightly lower than the other, toform an incline which facilitates the dis charge of the refuse earthymatter or gangue,

said pockets being separated by inclines e,

which materially assist the precipitation, loosen up the earthy matter,and increase the capacity of the machine for handling the dirt. Theinclines or inclined tables e are preferably about the width of thepockets, though they may be narrower, their value being measurablyproportioned to their width. The alternate pockets 0 and inclines edivide the bed up into portions where the material is subjected tovibration only, and portions where it is subjectedto vibration and airor water currents; consequently the fine gold has a chance to gravitateor sink more rapidly than the lighter fine particles of matrix whilepassing over the inclines, and as a consequence the line gold will morereadily remain in the pocket,while the line matrix, being acted upon bythe current, will pafi or flow toward the tail of the saparator. Thesepocketse, which extend transversely of the machine,have perviousbottoms, to permit the upward flow of. a current of air or water fromthe chamber 0', and are preferably constructed from slotted Ill)notwithstanding the vibration of the ore-bed.

steel plates, as shown in Fig. 5, butmay be of wire netting or gauze orany suitable pervious material. At each end of the pocket 6 is provideda dead-plate or dead-block, 6 to prevent the current from chamber 0crossing the ends of the pockets 6, (see Fig. 14.) and this orequivalent construction should be adopted in order to confine thecurrent to such portions of the pocket as present an ore-bed of uniformdepth and resistance to the current. In order to make this feature moreapparent, Figs. 11 and 12 have been added to the drawings, showing priorforms, audit will be at once apparent that the vibrations of the ore-bedwill disturb the resisting strata so much at theends of the pocket thatthe current, meeting less resistance and having greater velocity orforce, will carry up and 011' the finer particles of the metal andmatrix. To obtain the best results it is desirable to provide an upperdead-plate or flange, e", at or near the top of each and of the pocket eor ore-bed, (see Fig. 15,) to form a blind-pocket, e, which may berounded out, as at c if desired, (see Figs. 16 and 17,) and said deadj'plate or flange e may extend entirely arourd the pocket e, (see Figs. 2,3, and 4,) or, in other words. the pocket may have a deadplate, not onlyat the ends, as shown at 6 Fig. 3,butalso on both sides of the pockets,as shown at c, Fig. 4. i

It will be evident that if the above or equivalent construction ,isadopted that the strata or ore-bed through which the current passes mustremain uniform throughout its extent,

This, however, will not necessarily be the result when the upperdead-plate or flange, e,

'isused alone or without an equivalent for dead block 6', as will,appear on reference to Fig. 12, which, as stated, has been introduced afor purposes of illustration.

Just over the ore-bed, opposite the ends of each pocket e, are placedangleirons or deflcclors e, which turn or direct the earth unjl ertreatment from the dead-plate e, and side walls over or back on theoperative face of the ore-bed, so that none of the earth shall pass thebed without thorough treatment.

Having specified the preferred construction .for the bed-pock ets, itnext becomes necessary to specify the character of the ore-bed. As

hereinbefore stated, any loose material of uni-- form size, of specificgravity intermediate between the precious metal and matrix, and of asize which will afl'ord a resistance to the air or water current greaterthan the resistance of the matter to be treated, may be employed 1 tofill the'pockets' e and form the ore'bed; but

I prefer coppershot forthe following reasons: It is hard and durable,andwill not deface the gold, (astwould lead shot.) can be obtained andwill remain ofiuniform' size and of any dcsired'size, and its gravitywith relation to the usual matrix is as eight to two, and with relationto the gold as eight to nineteemwhich character, the pockets e arefilled to constitute the ore-bed which is to rereive'and re -tain'theprecious metal, and the size of said material is adapted to theresistance of the passage of the current desired in the ore-bed.

Beneath the-ore-bed is the chamber a, which will be either an air orwater chamber, according as the upward current through the orebed is tobe air or water." Of course air is preferred, as water is not alwaysobtainable in the quantities. desired, and in such case the chamber 0 isprovided with a valved port, 0 from which a flexible conduit, 0, leadsto a suitable fan or blower for creating anair blast. a I 0 indicates avalve arranged in the port and operated by a screw, c, or itsequivalent, whereby the size of port 0 may be varied to obtain thedesired volumeand pressure of the air-current. By means of this valveand the selected material for the ore bed the force of the current ofair may be regulated exactly.

d indicates a small safe or strong box, (which should be locked,)connected with thelowest part ot'the chamber by a suitable flexiblepipe, d, though, if desired, the box d may be secured directly to thefloor of chamber 0.

As before stated, almost all, if not all, the

gold will will be retained in the ore-bed, and

its only in extraordinary cases that the gold will be fine enough tosift into the air-chamber; but, as it ispossible for a small percent'age of the whole product to'be fine enough to sift into the chamber 0',I have provided a means forsecuri ng it against interference from theworkmen.

Where water is available,and it is desirable to use it instead of ablast, each pocket e may have its individual well W, (see Figs. 9 and10,) which extends upon each side of the orebed E. as at w, and issupplied by a flexible pipe,P,havingavalve,p-apipe on each sideby whichmeans the vibration of the ore-bed will not'interfere wit-h the steadyconstant flow of the current, so desirable in this class of machines.The lower ends of the flexible pipes P are submerged in the water of theside chambers, to, to prevent the formation of airbubbles,which, ifdriven down under and permitted to rise through the ore-bed and earthymatter,would seriously interfere with the sn'ccessful operation of themachine;

F indicates the dust-chamber above the ore-bed; f, the dischargethereof,'whence the gangue or refuse escapes; G: the receiving tablewhich receives the material to be treatedin a pulverized condition fromthe hopper B, which is placed. over the feed-openingg of the separator;and H indicates a. pendent diast the escape of dust and air at the headof the separator, v

'.-phragm'which separates the receiving-table G- ,from the dust-chamberF,--a'nd tends to pre- As'beforespecifiedmne important feature siftthrough the ore-bed, I have provided the strong box d; but assubstantially all of the valuable matter is retained in the ore-bed,(from which it is taken in cleaning up,) it is necessary to guard thisore-bed E, which is done as follows: The feed'openingg is guarded by aseries of rods or bars, 9, and the discharge end f is likewise guardedby a series of rods or bars, f, at such distances apart that while notinterferring with the work of the machine they will, nevertheless,prevent the introduction of the hand or any instrument, by means ofwhich the ore-bed F could be tampered with. These bars or rods gf willalso serve to brace and strengthen the separator without materiallyadding to its weight or cost of construction.

In order to obtain access to the ore bed legitimately, the cover I ofthe dust-chamber F is arranged as a slide, cut away at the feed--opening 9, and secured by a lock, 5. Fig.6; or any equivalent well-knownmeans of removably securing the dust-cover may be adopted.

If the separator is tampered with, the gold can only be obtained byremoving the shot or loose material which fills the pocket. and if thisis removed the pockets cannot be properly refilled until the lockedsliding cover is removed to expose the separator-pockets fully,consequently any tampering with the machine will be positively detectedHaving now poi ntcd out the preferred construction, I will describe themanner in which I operate the machine.

The pockets 6 having been filled with material of the character andrelative specific gravity hereinbefore specified, and of 'a. sizeadapted to offer the specified resistance to the passage of the air orwater current, or, in other words, the ore-bed E being properlyprepared, the valve (0 or p, as the case may be,) is adjusted to obtaina current of the volume and pressure best adapted to the material undertreatment. The said material, in a pulverized condition, is then fedfrom the hopper B, through feed-opening g, upon the table G. Theseparator G will have a lateral vibration imparted to it from shaft Dand crank-pin D through link or rod D", or in any other suit-ablemanner. The vibration of the separator C will cause the material undertreatment to pass under diphragm Hand flow in a thin sheet or stratumover ore-bed E, where it meets the current of air or water flowing upthrough the ore-bed, and as the resistance is less in the strata ofearth than it is in the bed, the earth strata will be so agitated thatthe separation of the precious metal firom the matrix will takeplaceabove the orebed, and the precious'mctal will by gravity sink intothe ore-bed and be retained therein,

allowing the gangue or refuse to flow freely from the bed and out at thedischarge f of the separator. The lateral vibration of the separatorcauses the intestine movement in the material in the pockets or ore-bed.and this favors the descent to the bottom of the pockets of the finerparticles of precious metal,and thus effectually prevents loss by thesame be ing carried off in the gangue. The lateral vibration of theseparator, combined with the upfiow of the air divided into minute jetsby the ore bed through which it passes, tend not only to lift thematerial and overcomeits specific gravity, but also to divide particlefrom particle, thus reducing the whole mass into the most favorablecondition'fo'r permitting the component parts to arrange themselvesaccording to their respective specific gravities. In other words, anartificial quieksand is produced. Only the very finest dust can possiblysift into the chamber 0', and this, which is a very small per cent. ofthe yield. will collect in the safe or strong box d, as beforespecified.

On reference to Figs. 11 to 17 the value of the dead-block e" anddead-plate a will be more apparent than at first. The bulk,orsnbstautially all, of the yield will be retained in the ore-bed, sothat there is .a resemblance to the amalgamating process. At the closeof work the separator 0 maybe detached from the frame, the slide I ordnst'chamber cover nulocked and removed for cleaning up. and all theprecious metal recovered from the bed material, after which the materialmay be replacedin the pockets, and the dust-chamber cover I replaced andlocked.

It is evident that copper shot will, if used as material for theore-bed, greatly facilitate cleaning up, as an incline can be used toseparate the round shot from the dust, scale. and other-irregular formsof precious metal. It is also evident that the proper preparation of theore bed E 'or distribution of the shot or like material in pockets enecessitates unobstructed access to the ore-bed, and therefore theore-bed cannot be tampered with by the workmen without being at oncediscovered.

Among the advantages? of my present invention are the thorough manner inwhich the machine is protected against robbery; the efiective manner inwhich the volume and force of the. current through the machine can becontrolled; the perfect manner in which the uniform depth of the ore-bedand the force of its resistance to the current can be maintained; and,finally, the capacity of the machine to recover all grades or sizes ofthe precious metal, and from any or all kinds of matrix, no matter howwidely these. may vary in the material under treatment.

I do not herein claim the method set forth and involved, as the sameforms the subjectmatter of a separate application of even date herewith,Serial No. 196,734.

I am aware that in saving gold by amalga mation, amalgamated coppercylinders and balls have been used to facilitate the coating of the goldwith mercury, and do not herein claim copper balls, &c'., whenamalgamated and so usetL'as the amalgamation of the cop per or otherni'etal ball would render it in a great measure unfitted for usein mymachine. Myv reason for using copper shotis because the gravity of thecopper shot comes nearest to equally dividing the difference in gravityI between gold and its matrix.

Having thus described my invention. What I claim,-and desire to secureby Letters Patent, 1s

1. In a separator, an ore-bed composed of a series of pockets separatedby inclines. sub stantiallyas and for the purposes specified.

;.' -2.' In a separator, a seriesof pockets containing loose materialforming an ore-bed and provided with dead-blocks arranged to deflect thecurrent from the sides of the bed or ends of its pockets, substantiallyas and for the pur- 3. In a separator; a series of pockets containingloose material forming an ore-bed, and

provided with dead-blocks at the bottom and dead-plates at the top ofthe bed, arranged to form blind-pockets, which confine the mate rial andprevent the passage of currents subva-pervious bottom, dead-blocks atitsends,

and deflectors arranged above the dead-blocks, substantially as and forthe purposes specified. 5. A separator-pocket for an ore-bed, saidpocket having a dead-block at each end near the-bottom, and a dead plateor flange extending around the pocketvat or near the level or topsurface of the ore-bed, substantially as and for the purposes specified.6. In an ore'separator, the combination,with an ore-bed, of a series ofrods or bars for guarding the feed and discharge orifices of theseparator, and a locked cover for closing the chamber over the ore-bed,substantially as and for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in

